The three main 1400 ft long production lines at the new Rover factory plant standready and empty. Three years and 31 million pound have been spent for an astonishing12 acre, three storey painting facility and a 23 acre assembly hall to build new Roversefficiently and economically, to the highest standards of quality, by a work-force incomfortable and pleasant conditions. Soon the Rover SD1 will drive out of this factory. The new plant was necessary because existing Rover production facilities were alreadycrammed full to overflowing with the successful Land-Rover and Range Rover and withluxury car production. The formal decision to build was taken in November 1972, andthe town planning approval was awarded in February 1973.Rovers previous factory was to small to built all the cars sold. And this new plant wasintended to put that problem right. Market research had shown that the potentialsales for the new car were far higher than anything that had emerged before fromSolihull.In all respects it was an unprecedented project for Britain's motor industry. To matchthe scale of the operation, the organisations to be involved were counted in scoresarchitects, consulting engineers, quantity surveyors, landscape architects, the maincontractor and his many sub-contractors, amounting to a labour force of 350 at thepeak of building work.The business executive who glances down as he flies out of Birmingham's Elmdonairport has the best view of the whole 100-acre site. The vast grey pvc-coated steelclad main assembly hall (bigger than the National Exhibition Centre's six show halls afew miles away) have been carefully shielded from the stray glances of ground levelpassers-by.When you swing off the broad blacktop of the A45 arterial road between Birminghamand Coventry and down Damson Lane into The grounds of the new plant, no suggestionof the industrial might behind the meticulously landscape contours of the man-madehills intrudes until you are past the barriers of the works entrance.The project demanded two major buildings. The new three-storey paint shop, plannedto handle all Rover car production, was built within the boundary of the existingfactory. It presented few visual problems, but was carefully insulated to minimisenoise and fumes. Typical measure was the use of an air treatment system whichensures that the exhaust gases are acceptable and uses heat which would otherwise be lost from the gases exhausted from the paint drying ovens.The long frontage facing Elmdon Park is masked by a transitional area 60 yards deepirregularly planted with fast-growing evergreens and shrubs, interspersed with themajestic oaks that have stood so long.Finally, to make certain that residents received a positive benefit from the factory'sconstruction, a new highway standard carriageway being driven through to reversemuch of the traffic flow away from suburban Solihull out to the motorway standardA45 highway. The main assembly hall was built on the land alongside the preciousgreen belt between Solihull and the neighbouring City of Coventry. Its 23-acre site wassandwiched between the great oak trees and lake of Elmdon Park and the buttonbright houses of the Damson Lane housing estate.Early plans to build a two-storey assembly hall with the production lines upstairs andthe inflow of components on the ground floor, were quickly put on one side when itwas realised just how great an impact on the locality the building would have.With care, a long low building could be just as satisfactory to use but could be muchless obvious, Consultations with local interests were acted on and a new low outlinewas designed. To reduce visuel intrusion still more, foundations were laid in the floorof broad valley generated by cutting a 40 ft. Embankment and moving more than amillion tons of soil, redeploying it to make a line of man-made hills along the boundaryfacing the houses. Trees and shrubs were later planted in natural-looking groups.Working with the top landscape architect Professor Weddle of Sheffield University,Leyland Cars engineers placed their 21 acres of cars parks and marshalling areas snuglybetween the new hills and the factory. Noise and fumes are largely contained withinthe bowlBuilding the FactoryAltogether, 8,900 tons of steel were used to build the steel skeleton of the twobuildings, which were to be clad in pvc-coated steel and brick. Basic support was 350large piles from 3.5 ft to 5 ft diameter and 600 underfloor piles of 1.5 ft diameter.They were driven an average of 40 ft into the ground.For the foundations and floors 130,000 tons of concrete were poured. In the assemblyhall the main floor was laid by a flooring machine laying a 12.5ft. wide strip as acontinuous process. The three floors of the paintshop have a combined area of 513,000sq ft. The mixing rooms, laboratories and offices add 43,000 sq ft, to make a totalarea of 556,000 sq ft. 13 acres, while above them the aluminium roof panels have anarea of 170.000 sq ft four acres.In the 1900 ft by 500 ft assembly hall, the basic floor area is 995,000 sq ft-. 23 acres.Add the offices, the canteens and the link bridge between paint and assemblybuildings, and the total comes to 1,500,000 sq ft. The 125 ft main spans of the girdersare in 50 ft bays 22 ft high and have been designed so that working space beneath theroof structure is uncluttered by service lines or girders.There are seven miles of assembly hall roof glazing and one mile of glazed panels inthe perimeter wall cladding. Employees' car parks cover 6 acres, and there are three miles of 30 ft wide Al-standard roads.To handle the flood of surface water from buildings and car parkswhen rains, seven miles of main drains were laid including fouland process water discharge. The Hatchford Brook, whichoriginally ran across the site below the present assembly hall, wasre-routed between the two buildings in 300 yards of 5 ft.diameter tunnel.Considerable efforts have been expended to avoid any risk ofcontamination in the brook, for it supplies an ornamental lake inthe park and then goes on to feed a trout fishery in a stately home a few miles awaydownstream.All the water used in the finishing and painting processes undergoes a cleaningsequence to remove every trace of the paint plant's electrophoretic, phosphate andflatting operations. Oil is removed from storm water, when it is collected in two200,000 gallon lagoons.The plant as it is today, Land Rover and Jaguars are built.

The three main 1400 ft long production lines at the new Rover factory plant standready and empty. Three years and 31 million pound have been spent for anastonishing 12 acre, three storey painting facility and a 23 acre assembly hall tobuild new Rovers efficiently and economically, to the highest standards of quality,by a work-force in comfortable and pleasant conditions. Soon the Rover SD1 willdrive out of this factory. The new plant was necessary because existing Rover production facilities werealready crammed full to overflowing with the successful Land-Rover and RangeRover and with luxury car production. The formal decision to build was taken inNovember 1972, and the town planning approval was awarded in February 1973.Rovers previous factory was to small to built all the cars sold. And this new plantwas intended to put that problem right. Market research had shown that thepotential sales for the new car were far higher than anything that had emergedbefore from Solihull.In all respects it was an unprecedented project for Britain's motor industry. Tomatch the scale of the operation, the organisations to be involved were countedin scores architects, consulting engineers, quantity surveyors, landscapearchitects, the main contractor and his many sub-contractors, amounting to alabour force of 350 at the peak of building work.The business executive who glances down as he flies out of Birmingham'sElmdon airport has the best view of the whole 100-acre site. The vast grey pvc-coated steel clad main assembly hall (bigger than the National ExhibitionCentre's six show halls a few miles away) have been carefully shielded from thestray glances of ground level passers-by.When you swing off the broad blacktop of the A45 arterial road betweenBirmingham and Coventry and down Damson Lane into The grounds of the newplant, no suggestion of the industrial might behind the meticulously landscapecontours of the man-made hills intrudes until you are past the barriers of theworks entrance.The project demanded two major buildings. The new three-storey paint shop,planned to handle all Rover car production, was built within the boundary of theexisting factory. It presented few visual problems, but was carefully insulated tominimise noise and fumes. Typical measure was the use of an air treatmentsystem which ensures that the exhaust gases are acceptable and uses heatwhich would otherwise be lost from the gases exhausted from the paint dryingovens.The long frontage facing Elmdon Park is masked by a transitional area 60 yardsdeep irregularly planted with fast-growing evergreens and shrubs, interspersedwith the majestic oaks that have stood so long.Finally, to make certain that residents received a positive benefit from thefactory's construction, a new highway standard carriageway being driven throughto reverse much of the traffic flow away from suburban Solihull out to themotorway standard A45 highway. The main assembly hall was built on the landalongside the precious green belt between Solihull and the neighbouring City ofCoventry. Its 23-acre site was sandwiched between the great oak trees and lakeof Elmdon Park and the button bright houses of the Damson Lane housingestate.Early plans to build a two-storey assembly hall with the production lines upstairsand the inflow of components on the ground floor, were quickly put on one sidewhen it was realised just how great an impact on the locality the building wouldhave.With care, a long low building could be just as satisfactory to use but could bemuch less obvious, Consultations with local interests were acted on and a newlow outline was designed. To reduce visuel intrusion still more, foundations werelaid in the floor of broad valley generated by cutting a 40 ft. Embankment andmoving more than a million tons of soil, redeploying it to make a line of man-made hills along the boundary facing the houses. Trees and shrubs were laterplanted in natural-looking groups.Working with the top landscape architect Professor Weddle of SheffieldUniversity, Leyland Cars engineers placed their 21 acres of cars parks andmarshalling areas snugly between the new hills and the factory. Noise and fumesare largely contained within the bowl

Building the Factory

Altogether, 8,900 tons of steel were used to build thesteel skeleton of the two buildings, which were to be cladin pvc-coated steel and brick. Basic support was 350large piles from 3.5 ft to 5 ft diameter and 600 underfloorpiles of 1.5 ft diameter. They were driven an average of40 ft into the ground.For the foundations and floors 130,000 tons of concretewere poured. In the assembly hall the main floor was laidby a flooring machine laying a 12.5ft. wide strip as acontinuous process. The three floors of the paintshophave a combined area of 513,000 sq ft. The mixingrooms, laboratories and offices add 43,000 sq ft, to makea total area of 556,000 sq ft. 13 acres, while above them the aluminium roofpanels have an area of 170.000 sq ft four acres.In the 1900 ft by 500 ft assembly hall, the basic floor area is 995,000 sq ft-. 23acres. Add the offices, the canteens and the link bridge between paint andassembly buildings, and the total comes to 1,500,000 sq ft. The 125 ft mainspans of the girders are in 50 ft bays 22 ft high and have been designed so thatworking space beneath the roof structure is uncluttered by service lines orgirders.There are seven miles of assembly hall roof glazing and one mile of glazedpanels in the perimeter wall cladding. Employees' carparks cover 6 acres, and there are three miles of 30 ftwide Al-standard roads.To handle the flood of surface water from buildings andcar parks when rains, seven miles of main drains werelaid including foul and process water discharge. TheHatchford Brook, which originally ran across the sitebelow the present assembly hall, was re-routed betweenthe two buildings in 300 yards of 5 ft. diameter tunnel.Considerable efforts have been expended to avoid any risk of contamination inthe brook, for it supplies an ornamental lake in the park and then goes on to feeda trout fishery in a stately home a few miles away downstream.All the water used in the finishing and painting processes undergoes a cleaningsequence to remove every trace of the paint plant's electrophoretic, phosphateand flatting operations. Oil is removed from storm water, when it is collected intwo 200,000 gallon lagoons.The plant as it is today, Land Rover and Jaguars are built.